ABSTRACT

Challenging the claim that the policy of gender separation does not imply segregation but rather an innocent concern for the cultural concept of modesty, the paper attempts to analyze the respective questions arising from Prof. Harel's arguments, to illustrate a broader field of analysis including considerations of phenomenology and rationality, and ultimately to propose an alternative structure of explanation for the practice.

After the initial preliminary comments referring to the general discourse of minority rights, the main part of the paper is dedicated to the methodical analysis of various instances of separation, attempting to reach a careful definition of the cultural meanings implied in the practice. The last part of the paper attempts to portray the deep discriminatory structure of the practice by dissecting its underlying cultural and epistemological assumptions about sex and power relations.